The third chapter!

I wasn't actually planning on typing this up so quickly but since it's done nothing but rain every day for the past week (what happened to summer? -.-) I figured I had nothing else to do.

This chapter is indeed longer than my others, since someone asked and I'm a complete push over, but is still reasonably short since I needed to find a suitable place to cut off. The other chapters will probably be longer. Regardless, enjoy!


"You've what?"

To say Atobe's mother was surprised was probably an understatement. Her eyebrows were raised, disappearing into the wisps of hair that fell across her forehead, and her lips were pursed.

"I said, I've already found the one I want," Atobe repeated, a little louder than before so that several people nearby stopped talking and turned to face the small group, his tone holding a challenging edge that Ryoma did not quite understand.

For someone Ryoma assumed to spend most of his time holed up in board meetings with all the nations big shots Atobe was surprisingly stronger than he looked and his grip around Ryoma was tighter than he expected and so, after a breathy 'go with it or you'll regret it' being hissed into his ear courtesy of Atobe, Ryoma found himself rooted to the spot beneath the harsh glare of the older woman.

"Come along now, don't be silly Keigo," Her tone was light but with an undercurrent of forced control, as though she were speaking to a child in a temper rather than to a full grown man. It was obviously an attempt to not draw any more attention to themselves, though it made no real difference since already the whispers had started up and were now sweeping across the room like wildfire. In all directions conversations were ceasing and heads were turning their way, eager to latch onto this new piece of gossip. Even Kirihara had stopped trying to divert people's attention away since he had now probably realised how futile it was.

"No," Whatever attempts his mother made at trying to stay unnoticed were promptly nullified since, if anything, Atobe's voice was rising each time he spoke. Obviously he was a person who enjoyed attention and having everyone's eyes on him. Another thing which had him on Ryoma's dislike list. "You said yourself that you were happy to sit back and let me run the company how I wanted. Surely this extends to who I choose to run it with me?"

Considering his options were rather limited at the moment Ryoma had to settle for keeping his gaze on Atobe's mother for he was most certainly not going to give the small crowd of people the satisfaction of looking at them.

While he did not smile he did, however, manage to fix her with a blank stare that was most unsuited for a person who was supposedly the interest of the only son of a wealthy businessman. Naturally this only outraged her even more and so his look was returned with a glare that, if it were not for the fact he dished out those kinds of glares on a daily basis, would have left him cowering.

"But look at him, he is nothing but a bad tempered young boy."

Ryoma knew that he should probably be offended by this and the fact that they were all talking about him as though he was not, in fact, standing right in the middle of them in what was essentially a stranglehold, but the warmth of Atobe's body against his own as well as the fact his breath stirred the hairs on the top of his head with each breath he took was vaguely distracting.

Shifting his weight ever so subtly Ryoma tried to test the grip that Atobe had on him and whether he could manage to untangle himself without it being too blindingly obvious. As it were, nothing seemed to escape Atobe's notice and the hold on him merely tightened, quickly accompanied by a sharp jab to the ribs from Atobe's free hand.

"Boy or not it makes no difference," Ryoma scowled slightly at the fact that Atobe hadn't actually denied that he was bad tempered, "As long as he meets your standards and does not tarnish the family name then it's perfectly fine, right?"

The last word was spoken with a hint of triumph. In this day and age same gender relationships were fully accepted and so Atobe knew that his mother could not deny them on those grounds lest she want to suffer a backlash from the general public and risk disgracing the Atobe name.

Breathing heavily though her nose in what was obviously an attempt to keep herself calm she let out a small huff of mixed anger and embarrassment.

"Fine. But I shall be talking to your father about this." One hand settled on her hip as she drew herself up to her full height, obviously trying to maintain her dignity by attempting to appear indifferent, before turning on her heel and stalking off.

--

As soon as she was out of sight, weaving through the crowd of people with ease, Atobe's grip around Ryoma was released and the latter stumbled forwards a couple of steps before righting himself, straightening his clothes with a scowl.

Naturally Atobe paid no attention to this and instead turned to Kirihara, ignoring the furtive whispers of those around him with ease that only came with practise rather than the natural obliviousness Ryoma seemed to have to what was going on around him.

"Well? What are you standing around for? This is a party, why aren't people enjoying themselves?"

With a sigh and a nod Kirihara turned around to face the curious crowd of people, encouraging them to disperse and slowly drawing their attention away from the two males. It was only when the last person had turned away did Atobe finally face Ryoma, an emotion as close to guilt as he was probably able to feel etched on his features.

"It would have led to a whole lot of trouble if I had refused," Ryoma commented, still a little annoyed at the fact that Atobe had actually acted as though he was doing Ryoma a favour (even though technically he was, it made Ryoma's job far easier this way), as he adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves.

Atobe snorted, elegantly of course, as though the idea of anyone refusing him was a particularly amusing joke. When he caught the utter seriousness of Ryoma's expression the amusement on his own face faded and was replaced with a frown.

"I'll pay you."

Ryoma was a little put out by this, expecting some kind of sarcastic or superior reply. Indeed he even had his own retort on the tip of his tongue and had to quickly bite it back when he realised just how desperate Atobe seemed. Feeling a little guilty because of his reasons for doing this Ryoma averted his gaze, opting to stare at the floor.

"I don't need your money," He muttered.

"What then?" Atobe sounded a little annoyed, no doubt thinking that Ryoma was being deliberately awkward. "Name your price."

"I don't need anything," Ryoma glanced up, just in time to catch a small smirk making it's way onto Atobe's features, and quickly corrected himself before Atobe decided to get the whole wrong idea. "I mean, if I'm seen with you then my popularity within the academy is going to increase and I'll get more work, right?"

"I see," Atobe's tone was far more amused than it should have been but for once Ryoma decided to let it slide.

"In any case you have no idea what you've just let yourself into." Ryoma commented loftily.

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Atobe's tone held the same arrogant edge.

"Only if you take it that way."

With that Ryoma turned away and started to make his way back through the crowd of people towards the doors. Unbeknownst to him the same arrogant smirk he wore was reflected on Atobe's features. This kid was going to be interesting.

--

Atobe's garden, much like the rest of the house, was all done to a grand scale and Ryoma felt even more out of place as he made his way down the path that wound through the middle of the garden.

On each side flowers had been planted methodically, their fragrances strong but not enough to be overbearing, and the grass had been recently cut. Dotted along the lawn were small lights, like the ones inside the house but on a smaller scale, and were no doubt there to accentuate (or show off rather) the features to anyone who happened to wander out here from the party.

It was far cooler outside than inside, where the heat of a large number of bodies added to the warmth from the lights, and Ryoma found his hands shaking slightly (which was obviously to do with the chill and nothing to do with nerves) as he pulled out his phone.

They had provided him with a number to call when he had done what he had been sent to do, no doubt scrambled so that it could not be traced, and so it was merely a matter of dialling the number and waiting.

The person who picked up was not the so called 'boss' he had spoken to before, the voice was far too deep, but whoever they were they had obviously been waiting for his call for they seemed to know who it was straight away.

"Echizen Ryoma?"

"Yes," Ryoma glanced over his shoulder every so often but there was no one else around, they were all still inside enjoying the music or else dissecting the latest piece of scandal that was going on with the Atobes.

"You've done what you said you would?"

"Yes," Ryoma highly doubted he would be able to get any closer than his position now was. It was now merely a matter of using that position.

There was a pause on the other end of the line, in which there was the muffled sound of footsteps and hushed voices, before the other person spoke again.

"We have just received the signal that what you say is indeed true, thank you for your cooperation in this matter."

"And...?" Ryoma prompted.

"And your parents are being released as we speak."

Ryoma let out a sigh of relief, which probably went unheard on the other side of the line for they had promptly hung up as soon as they had finished speaking.

Tilting his head back slightly, Ryoma closed his eyes, letting the cool night air stir the strands of his dark hair, and let the tension that had left him as coiled as a spring all night slowly drain away.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed outside, it was already dark so it was hard to judge using the amount of light, but eventually he was dragged from his thoughts by a voice calling him.

"Echizen?"

Ryoma glanced to the side just in time to see Kirihara hurrying up the path towards him.

"Atobe is asking for you."

Ryoma rolled his eyes at the fact that Atobe felt the need to send someone out to fetch him instead of coming to look for him himself but nodded and followed Kirihara as he made his way back down the path towards the house. There was silence for a moment until Ryoma decided to break it, simply so he didn't have to think about what Atobe may want.

"So how long have you been working for Atobe?"

"About a month I guess," Kirihara replied.

"You don't seem like the type to let someone else boss you around," Ryoma observed. To him Kirihara seemed more like the one who would be wearing the boots rather than the one licking them.

"You don't seem like the type to let someone else use you to get back at his family," Kirihara countered, a smirk on his face.

Naturally Ryoma had no reply to this and they lapsed back into silence.

--

To Ryoma's surprise when they got back inside people seemed to be ready to leave, he must have been outside longer than he thought, but Kirihara ignored all of the people and instead headed for the stairs where Ryoma had been hanging around and where all this mess started.

He was led down a hall, which was as fancily decorated as the rest of the house seemed to be, before they came to a stop outside one of the doors and Kirihara knocked briefly on the dark wood.

"Come in."

The room seemed to be a study of sorts, with the walls lined with bookshelves stacked with thick, drably coloured volumes and a large desk sitting in the middle of the room nearest to the window. Behind this desk, in a large leather chair, was Atobe looking every inch the aristocrat as he motioned for Ryoma to be seated in a chair in front of the desk. Kirihara remained in the room but standing near the door, probably to prevent anyone else from coming in.

"Now," Atobe leaned forwards once Ryoma was seated and Ryoma was briefly reminded that this was indeed the person who commandeered a large company and had what was probably hundreds under his control. "As you may have noticed my mother is rather... difficult."

That was a understatement. If Ryoma's parents were like that he would have probably gone crazy with frustration long ago. Probably guessing what Ryoma was thinking Atobe continued, in a brisk no nonsense tone, before he was able to say anything.

"She, and my father to an extent, is obsessed with keeping up the family name and as a result there are certain standards that people must meet before even being acknowledged."

"So?" Ryoma wasn't exactly sure where this conversation was leading.

"So, starting tomorrow you will be reporting to me to change your unsightly ways and turn you into someone my parents will approve of."


So there we go. Thank you for reading and please review. I promise I'll get around to replying to them this time xD